


who let the dogs in

by starkly



Series: you don't have to do this alone [25]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Cooking, Dogs, Domestic Fluff, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 18:43:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13507548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkly/pseuds/starkly
Summary: All Tony and Pepper want to do is have a nice date night, but Rhodey brings an unexpected guest.





	who let the dogs in

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for NaNoWriMo 2017 and posted at [dailyironfamily](http://dailyironfamily.tumblr.com/post/167893177165/day-25-domestic) on tumblr. This fic was proofread before being posted here but is otherwise unchanged.
> 
> Day twenty-five: domestic. Featuring some cooking for date night, and the arrival of an unexpected animal. Set some time post-IM2, while they’re still in Malibu. I couldn't come up with a less stupid title, you're welcome.

The kitchen smells amazing, which is an unusual state for Tony’s kitchen to be in, considering he’s the one who usually cooks in it. Today, however, Pepper is gracing the room with her presence, and so far nothing has burned, or imploded, or (on one memorable occasion) exploded. While Pepper puts the finishing touches on the ragù for the pasta, Tony has been relegated to garlic bread duty, which he takes very seriously.

“Bread’s in the oven,” he tells her as he closes the door, then sets the timer. Wiping his hands on his apron, he goes over to press up against Pepper’s back, looping an arm around her waist. “How’s the pasta coming?”

“It’d be coming along faster if you stopped distracting me,” Pepper answers, stirring the sauce carefully to check its consistency. “And you better not be rubbing your dirty apron on my clothes.”

“It’s fine,” he reassures her, kissing the side of her neck. “Everything’s clean.”

Pepper makes a noise of disbelief, but she doesn’t push him away. A timer on the stove beeps and she carefully extricates herself from Tony’s grasp so she can take the pasta off the heat and drain it.

“Transfer some to a skillet, please, and leave the rest to cool,” she tells him, and Tony digs one out of the cabinet and does as asked, making sure not to dump any on the stove top. Pepper returns with the pasta and adds it to the skillet, taking the spoon and stirring so the sauce coats the noodles.

“It looks great, Pep,” he tells her sincerely, stomach growling softly at the smell. “And I’m not just saying that because I’m starving.”

“Wait until you see how it tastes to pass judgment,” she says, getting plates out of the cabinet and setting them on the counter. “I looked up the recipe just for you, since you said you liked it.”

Tony grins, surprised but pleased. “Aw, Pep, you must like me or something.”

She rolls her eyes and tells him to check on his garlic bread while she finishes the pasta. By the time he takes the pan out of the oven, Pepper’s all finished and checking her watch.

“Jim’s late,” she says with a slight frown. “Should we call?”

“He’ll be here, don’t worry.” He grabs a bottle of wine and three glasses from the cabinet, setting them on the table.

They pour the wine and make up their plates and Rhodey’s still not there yet. Tony’s tapping his fingers against the table, more antsy than Pepper is now. As he’s contemplating having JARVIS track Rhodey’s phone, the door bell rings, and he hops up from the table, telling JARVIS to let Rhodey in.

“There you are, we were worried!” he says, going over to greet him before he’s even there. He stops short as Rhodey walks into the kitchen with an unfamiliar dog at his feet. “What is that.”

It’s some kind of black lab mix, from what Tony can tell, and it looks like it’s been rolling around in the dirt all day. It makes an immediate beeline for Tony when it see him, and Tony jumps back, trying to ward it off.

“Sorry I’m late,” Rhodey says to them, unconcerned that this strange dog is loose in Tony’s house. “I found that guy on the side of the road on the way over, no collar.”

“Great. It’s not like I have neighbors.” He takes a few more steps back, but the lab is undeterred.

“Poor thing, I wonder where he came from,” Pepper says, though she makes no move to save Tony from the dog.

Rhodey goes over to the counter and gets a bowl, filling it with water and setting it on the floor near the lab. The dog leaves Tony alone long enough for him to make his escape, going back to the kitchen table.

“Maybe he’s got one of those tracking chips,” Pepper suggests, but a few moments later JARVIS informs them nothing like that is visible on his scans.

“I figured he’d been abandoned,” Rhodey says, crouching down and scratching the dog behind its ears.

Tony makes a pained expression. “So you brought it here?”

“What did you want me to do, leave it?”

Tony’s tempted to say ‘yes,’ but he sighs and goes over to get another bowl. “Can dogs eat pasta, J?” When JARVIS answers in the affirmative, he scoops some noodles into the bowl and puts it beside the water dish. “That’s coming out of your share of dinner, Rhodes.”

Rhodey laughs and shakes his head, stepping around the dog to give Tony a kiss. “I think I can sacrifice a few noodles.”

Tony goes to sit back down while Rhodey gets his own food. The lab doesn’t care about any of them at the moment as it eagerly scarfs down the pasta Tony had set out for it.

Tony waits for Rhodey to sit down with them and take a few bites of his meal before he asks, “You’re not leaving it here, right?”

Rhodey ignores him, telling Pepper, “This is excellent, I’m impressed.”

Pepper smiles, reaching over and patting Rhodey’s hand. “I’m obligated to tell you Tony made the garlic bread.”

“Really? Huh, not bad, Tones.”

“Why are we ignoring the dog in the room?” Tony asks.

“Because I just got in and I’m hungry?” Rhodey replies. “Relax about the dog for five minutes.”

“I am relaxed!”

“He seems…sweet,” Pepper says, and it’s not very convincing at all.

“Pepper doesn’t want him here either,” Tony says pointedly.

Rhodey grins. “Come on, didn’t you always say you wanted a dog?”

“Yeah, when I was a kid!”

“Don’t be rude, he’s a guest in your house.”

Tony scoffs. “You didn’t even name him.”

“You get attached easier when you name things,” Rhodey points out. “Isn’t that why you still have DUM-E?”

“What did you want to name your dog when you were little, Tony?” Pepper asks before Tony can begin to disparage DUM-E to defend himself.

He immediately clams up, staring down at his plate of pasta.

“Come on, it’s cute,” Rhodey teases, grinning.

Sighing, Tony mumbles, “Cap. But in my defense, I was five! What five year old didn’t want a dog named Cap?”

Pepper and Rhodey both raise their hands, and Tony huffs and shovels a forkful of pasta into his mouth. So much for solidarity.

Something nudges him under the table and at first he thinks it’s Rhodey trying to play footsie, but then there’s a dog head being shoved into his lap and he startles, surprised.

“Rhodey, your dog’s harassing me,” he complains.

“Just pet him and he’ll go away,” Rhodey replies. “Pepper, you want seconds?”

“Yes, please,” she says, smiling, and hands him her plate.

Tony looks down at the mutt and reluctantly scratches him on the head. Something thumps against his leg, and he realizes the dog’s wagging its tail. He scratches a little harder, trying to get behind its ears. He keeps at it for longer than he realizes, because when he stops and looks up, Rhodey’s back at the table with their plates, and he and Pepper are smiling at him.

“What?”

“Admit it, you like him,” Rhodey says.

“He’s fine,” Tony mumbles. “But we’re not keeping him here.”

Rhodey sighs. “Yeah, I know. I’ll try to find him a good home before I have to ship out again.”

Tony looks back down at the dog resting its head on his leg and feels oddly disappointed, even though he knows it can’t stay here.

“We can call him Cap while we have him?” Pepper suggests, laughing quietly.

“Better than nothing, I guess,” Tony says, and pets the dog on the head again.


End file.
